Friday night was quite an event as we celebrated the graduation of Nathaniel from Richland High School. The graduation ceremony was at the Toyota Center. That was the only place in town that would hold the 500 graduates plus the thousands of other family, friends and supporters.
Here's a brief video of Nathaniel.The ceremony was okay though it was a little dry and boring at times (what graduations aren't?)
But Nathaniel seemed to be enjoying his time as he waited for his name to be called. Nate graduated as a member of the National Honor Society. He is also hoping to have his associates degree from Columbia Basin College in the next few weeks. After the graduation ceremony, we gathered outside for some pictures with family and friends.
We had a great time the other night for FHE on Badger Mountain. Even with the light drizzle, we enjoyed renewing old friendships with Lamar and Kristen Linde and their family.
We hiked to the top of Badger Mountain and went on an orienteering course I had laid out earlier in the day. Everyone seemed to have a good time working the compass, especially when we dug up the bag of treats at the end!
Justin was getting a little wacky the other evening. He is in the support his high school team mode. So, he dressed up in his Richland Bomber attire and put on a show for us. He isn't really leaping that high in the picture below, its an optical illusion!
In celebration of the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Nate and Justin (and mom and dad) colored eggs and Mindy hid them for the traditional easter egg hunt. Its cool how the teenaged young men still have fun with this holiday tradition! (they like the goody filled easter baskets too!)
Sorry for the long delay between blog postings. I'll try to get several updated entries posted. This is from the weekend of April 9, 2011.
We had tickets to see a Dave Ramsey show in Portland so we decided to make a family weekend of the outing. We got there and checked into our hotel in a suburb of Portland to the east that is close to the light rail system. Then, we headed to the Pittock Mansion on a hill overlooking the city.
The century old mansion, built by a newspaper magnate is an architectural masterpiece. Appointed with period furniture, it was a neat tour. Justin got to play the antique grand piano. The view from the 1000' high hill was spectacular so we took a few pictures.
The next day it was time to go see the Dave Ramsey event. Ramsey is a nationally famous radio host who focuses on "Financial Peace". I've listened to him for years and was excited when I heard he'd be coming out west as he is based near Nashville. We got to meet Dave and get this picture and enjoyed a great show.
It just so happened there was a bicycle show at the convention center the same weekend as Dave Ramsey, what a break! We had a great time seeing the bikes, bicyclists and accessories. The picture above shows Ryan Leech, he is a professional mountain biker and the things he can do on a bicycle are amazing, you can watch this video if you'd like to see his show.
Nate and I did a sprint race on these stationary bicycles.
We also had a chance to test ride some unique bikes.
After the bike show, we headed for the Saturday market in downtown Portland. We had fun browsing the vendor booths with lots of arts and crafts. One booth caught out attention as we each got to try out our "through the head" items.
The weather was a little gray but the rain held off, it was a great view along the Willamette River complete with street vendors like this silver painted guy juggling glass balls.
On the way home, we stopped at Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. I had been here numerous times but had never hiked to the top to look down so we made the hike with a great view from the top! It was an enjoyable weekend!
Okay, what are the 5 S's? Shoemakers Ski and Snowboard Spout Springs! A great day on the mountain!
Yeah, the snow was icy and hard but it was still a bunch of fun! Justin, Nate and Paul headed to Spout Springs in Northeast Oregon early in the morning on Saturday. We got there behind a school bus so I was concerned it might be a little crowded. We got to the lodge rental area, Nate and Paul got skis and Justin got a snowboard. The timing worked out great as we rode down to the lift and were among the first ones riding up. This was the second time for both Justin and Nate and they picked right up where they left off last time and did great! After a few runs, we went on the bigger lift. We didn't realize we'd be heading down a very steep black diamond run as the other runs were closed. We slid down and went back to the big lift where we got directions to the "Pendleton" run. On our second time down that run, Paul decided he wanted a visit to the first-aid shack and did a face-plant into the icy snow.
Paul at the First-aid shack
After a little cleanup, we were back on the slopes. We put in many runs and the "crowds" we worried about never materialized. The temperature stayed below freezing so the "groomed" snow didn't get slushy. After noon, we got our lunch box and ate in the lodge then headed back to the hill. The clouds moved quickly across the sky throughout the afternoon but there was no precipitation. The boys continued to fine-tune their skills as we faced the challenge of hard, icy slopes. Justin was hoping to land a 360 off a small jump but, after multiple attempts, that will have to wait until next time. We ended up logging over 30 miles, you can see some of our tracks on the GPS Google Earth image. We got to the end of the day and the ski patrol had to shoo us off the hill! We got home safe, tired and a little bit sore! Hope you enjoy the video.
Today was Nate's chance to go skiing for the first time with Grandma Lin and dad at the Bluewood ski area near Dayton. Nathaniel was excited for the opportunity to hit the slopes. We arrived at Bluewood to a chilly day, the temperature hovering around 10 degrees. We got all geared up and bundled ourselves in layers and headed for the platter pull on the bunny hill. Nate did great without much instruction. Then it was time for a lesson to help him be successful. Grandma arrived and went down a few runs with dad then we watched as Nate finished up his lesson. We put in a few more runs then went to the lodge to warm up and eat our lunch. After lunch, we put in as many more runs as possible before closing time. Nate kept progressing each run. Although it was a cold day with some scattered snow showers, it was a great day. The mountain was pretty crowded with winter break traffic but the lift lines were short. Along the edges of all the runs was 3 or more feet of awesome, fluffy powder so we had a ball blasting the powder and by the end of the day we were hitting a few jumps too! We'll sleep well tonight! A great day!
I'm a father of 3 with an amazing wife. I have two super sisters and one awesome brother. I love family time, especially when we're enjoying the great outdoors camping, backpacking or hiking. I love riding my bicycles (road or mountain). I love swimming the Columbia River. I love hiking around the Tri-Cities. I started this blog to help people discover some of the beauty that is right outside our doors here in the Columbia Basin. I hope you will take advantage of these posts by either by enjoying the content, video, pictures and maps or going out and exploring these areas on your own. Please give me feedback as I am always looking for new adventures and I am imperfect so I will make mistakes and welcome corrections. Please browse around, take advantage of my advertisers if they can benefit you and enjoy!
But Nathaniel seemed to be enjoying his time as he waited for his name to be called. Nate graduated as a member of the National Honor Society. He is also hoping to have his associates degree from Columbia Basin College in the next few weeks. After the graduation ceremony, we gathered outside for some pictures with family and friends.
Today was Nate's chance to go skiing for the first time with Grandma Lin and dad at the Bluewood ski area near Dayton. Nathaniel was excited for the opportunity to hit the slopes. We arrived at Bluewood to a chilly day, the temperature hovering around 10 degrees. We got all geared up and bundled ourselves in layers and headed for the platter pull on the bunny hill. Nate did great without much instruction. Then it was time for a lesson to help him be successful. Grandma arrived and went down a few runs with dad then we watched as Nate finished up his lesson. We put in a few more runs then went to the lodge to warm up and eat our lunch. After lunch, we put in as many more runs as possible before closing time. Nate kept progressing each run. Although it was a cold day with some scattered snow showers, it was a great day. The mountain was pretty crowded with winter break traffic but the lift lines were short. Along the edges of all the runs was 3 or more feet of awesome, fluffy powder so we had a ball blasting the powder and by the end of the day we were hitting a few jumps too! We'll sleep well tonight! A great day!
